Video Game Review: Battlefield 1
By: Ganja Gameboys

As the release date for Battlefield 1 approached we were consumed with anticipation. What would it be like, how would it change, and how would EA top Battlefield 4?

For us, the attraction to first person shooters has always been the multiplayer, they’re ever changing and increasingly competitive. But when the time finally came to unpack this highly anticipated WWI shooter from EA, we were left unsatisfied. Battlefield has always been about large scale warfare, and when I think World War I, I think up close and personal. But when we finally got the chance to play the multiplayer we found it hard to get enough action on the battlefield to remain attentive. The maps are huge.

If there is a bright spot in Battlefield 1, it lies in its campaign. Rather than following their typical script and wrapping the campaign up under one neatly packaged narrative, EA DICE breaks the campaign up into six unique and immersive “war stories”. By starting players are off in a prologue mission on the frontlines of World War I, we are immediately sold on the utter devastation of the war. From there, players are free to choose from any of the six stories, whether it be a fearless Canadian Pilot from the British Royal Flying Corps or Lawrence from the deserts of Arabia, players have complete freedom in determining the course of the campaign.

Each war story highlights, what at the time were ground breaking innovations and war tactics, from the German’s A7V Sturmpanzerwagen (tank) that brought total destruction to the front lines of the allied powers, to the untested but ever so effective British airplanes that rained down hell from above. The campaign may be short and sweet, but each story is as brutal, bloody and intensely immersive as the last; pair that with the music and cinematography that accompanies the gameplay and you will surely be thrust to the frontlines of the deadliest war in history, whether or not that’s a good thing is up to you.